Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to participate in our survey. I think we got some really valuable insight for the future of Squshies. I plan to write more about some of the things we learned in future posts. To start talking about the survey, I thought I'd be begin by answering all the questions you left for us, since you all so kindly took the time to answer our questions =)
So let's get started!
Have you considered making any insect Squshies?
We don't currently have any plans for insect Squshies. I honestly don't get very excited about insects, so when I sit down to design new Squshie characters, bugs just don't come to mind. Plus thin little legs can be a bit of a challenge.
We're not opposed to making insects though! We have made a couple insect Squshies for custom orders. Well I guess technically only one was an insect, since spiders aren't really insects but when I think of insects spiders always come to mind too.
How did you meet?
We met online! We both attended the same online animation school where we both had a class together. We later met briefly in person at that school's weekend of events for graduation, which I flew out to California for.
A year later I traveled to California, for a convention related to the animation industry. Jason and I randomly ran into each at a Starbucks in downtown LA, both on our way to a party thrown by a fellow classmate. We continued to run into each other over and over during the convention and ended up spending a lot of time together. This time when I flew back to NH, we kept in touch. We did the long distance dating thing for a few months and then I moved to California and we've been together ever since =)
It's not a question but if you use Redbubble please make mugs!
If we do more with Redbubble, mugs are definitely something we'd like to make! They're seemed to be some definite interest in Redbubble products so this is something we hope to do more with in the future.
What is your favorite cake recipe? and Favorite Cake?
I should have know this question was coming! I pretty much love all cake. I don't think I've met a cake I don't like. Unless you count ice cream cake, which I don't because it is an abomination!
If we're talking cake to make at home my favorite is this Chocolate Depression Cake, also sometimes called Wacky Cake. It's a recipe from the depression era and uses no egg or milk. I just love it! Super easy to make and incredibly moist. I'm personally not a huge fan of frosting so I love cake that doesn't need any.
My favorite going out to eat cake is at local vegan restaurant. I feel like it might be the same or very similar cake, since being vegan it wouldn't have eggs or milk either. The difference is they put mashed bananas on top and a bit of coconut creme frosting. So good! I really need to try to recreate the topping when we make cake at home.
How is your day going?
My day is going good! Although I could do with it being a little cooler. Being originally from New England I'm used to temperatures cooling down after Labor Day. In Southern California, after Labor Day seems to mean guaranteed heat waves =/ It's 105 where I am today.
Do you have a song about the Squshies?
No song. Jason can play the ukulele but neither of us is musical enough to write an actual song.
Does the San Diego Safari park carry any of your products or do they display any of your work?
We wish! We'd love to work with zoos someday, but it is unfortunately not something we can do currently.
Do you have anything made of Majani, (the cheetah at your wedding)?
Not currently. A cheetah is on our to make list though! We've wanted to make one for a while, but all those spots presented quite the challenge.
We've been experimenting with using heat pressing to help make Squshies. It's the technique we've been using on the recent framed animal portraits.
We've been really pleased with the results. The first Squshie ornament to get this new treatment is Hilda the Jackalope. We hope to roll it out to even more of our characters next year and eventually everyone. We really like the cleaner look it creates and it makes details like spots and stripes a bit easier to add.
Do you ever sleep? You seem to have something new all the time.
Sometimes too much! We've honestly have more ideas than we know what to do with so we've always got a bunch of projects going on in the background. There is always something new in the works =)
Do hippos really mark their territory by spraying poo?
It's true! They totally do. Male hippos use their tails to spread their poo as far as possible to let other hippos know they're in his territory. Gross but effective!
That's all the questions for us from you! Hope you enjoyed reading the answers =) The next post is going to cover the survey overall and that will be followed with a more detailed post about each of the potential ideas we mentioned.